Smage Wraps Up MotoTrial Title In Rhode Island

By Shan Moore | 6/23/2012 5:20 PM

Exeter, Rhode Island, (June 23, 2012) - With one round remaining on the eight-round schedule, Patrick Smage wrapped up his fifth national MotoTrial title by taking a solid victory at round seven of the SWM AMA/NATC MotoTrial Series in Exeter, Rhode Island.

The Sherco USA rider capitalized on an impressive opening lap in the slippery and technical New England terrain, which gave the Wisconsin rider a 14-point lead over American Beta's Cody Webb heading into the final two laps. Smage remained steady and avoided any major mishaps over during the final two circuits to finish off the day with an 11-point advantage over Webb for the win.

The performance gave Smage an insurmountable lead in the series standings with tomorrow's final round still to go.

"It's awesome to win my fifth title," said Smage. "This is something I never dreamed of back when I started riding for fun as a kid. I wanted to see if I could get to the top but there were no real goals and I definitely didn't expect to win it five times. And for every championship, I couldn't have done it without Ryan Young, and Brad Baumert and Sherco USA and RYP. They've done so much and I couldn't have done it without their help."

In the meantime, Sherco USA's Bryan Roper grabbed his third podium finish of the season with a third place finish, topping Gas Gas USA's Keith Wineland by 15 points.

Despite taking a nasty crash in the fourth section of the day, Gas Gas USA's Eric Storz came back to take fifth ahead of Sherco USA's Karl Davis Jr.

Sherco riders Logan Bolopue and Andrew Oldar rounded out the top eight.